As disclosed in U.S. Pat. Ser. Nos. 5,244,877, 5,502,045 and 5,578,334, various sterols/stanols, in particular .beta.-sitosterol, are known to have cholesterol-lowering properties. The consumption of .beta.-sitosterol is known to reduce cholesterol levels in the blood stream. Presently due to its handling and storage properties, .beta.-sitosterol is incorporated in foods during its formulation, or while it is being manufactured. While this is effective in producing foods with beneficial effects, the consumer is limited to those foods in which the manufacturers incorporate .beta.-sitosterol.
It would be highly desirable to provide sterols/stanols in a form that would be readily dispersible in aqueous media, thus increasing the amount available to micelles in the gut.
There have been several attempts to provide such a product with limited success. U.S. Pat. No. 3,881,005 discloses the use of a polyoxyethlene sorbitan monostearate that is added to a sterol suspension prior to spray drying. U.S. Pat. No. 4,195,084 discloses a tall oil suspension suitable for oral administration that is comprised of finely divided particles of .beta.-sitosterol in water. Other solutions described in the art include, U.S. Pat. Ser. No. 3,004,043 which discloses water-soluble vegetable oil sterol derivatives and U.S. Pat. No. 3,085,939 which discloses oil-in water sterol emulsions. While these disclosures provide edible compositions of sterols, the disclosures fail to provide the sterol in a form that would be more readily available to the body.